Iconic film Sholay to be screened with audio description at IFFI 2018

Sholay, starring Amitabh Bachchan and
Dharmendra is one of India's landmark films, which makes it
great news that the movie will be among the two to be screened as part of the
curated section for people with disabilities at the International
Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panjim, Goa.

Over nine days, from 20 to 29 November, films across all walks of life will
be screened, including 47 of the finest Indian films. Along with Sholay,
Hichki, starring Rani Mukherji, will also be a
part of the curated section.

In 2016, the programming package of the festival started including a section
for disabled children so they got a chance to experience the wonders of
cinema. This was done in partnership with UNESCO and
Saksham, under the Accessible India
Campaign and Sugamaya Bharat Abhiyan.

A Delhi-based NGO, Saksham has played a major role in making films accessible
for blind viewers though audio descriptions, and for deaf viewers with
subtitles.

The 2016 IFFI was the first ever Indian Film festival to screen audio
descriptive movies. The first three audio descriptive films screened were
Gandhi, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, and
Dhanak. In 2017, the films screened were Hindi
medium and Secret Super Star.

In continuation with the earlier themes, this year the choice of films have
stories that revolve around the lives of children. There is also a special
presentation of films from Tunisia so children in India get to experience
international cinema.

These steps towards inclusion on such a mainstream and international platform
are long overdue, believes filmmaker Satya Prakash, who has
many films on disability to his credit.

This is a great step and a major leap towards recognising the disability
sector. Personally I would have chosen a film like Black or
Andha Dhun, but it is a welcome step nonetheless. It is high
time the disabled community in India made its presence felt and this is a
good platform. - Satya Prakash, Filmmaker

Danish Mahajan, a key member of Radio
Udaan, the online radio initiative run by blind and low vision
people hopes to see this taken several steps forward.

"This is a welcome development and in future we should work towards making
all films accessible. Movies without audio description can be enjoyed
somewhat when people describe the film to you, but there is a different kind
of experience with audio description. I hope that accessibility becomes as
widely prevalent here as it is in the West. There its automatic with
everything, like an ATM or a film. Here it's an afterthought. I hope that
changes."

These are baby steps yet but all going in the right direction, as
Simran Chawla, who recently starred in the film Teen
Dost says. Chawla, who is visually impaired, acted as a young woman
starting a new stage in life. "I am happy because these small steps will take
us to great heights one day. "

"Wow!", says Vineet Saraiwala, who is a low vision
marathoner in Mumbai. "That's my first reaction and it is an interesting time
to be blind with popular films like Sholay and Hichki coming with an audio
description. I would definitely love to watch Sholay. Blind people love
movies and I am a big fan. I watch movies every week and this is the
beginning of something great to come in the next five years."

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Hi, I'm Bhavna Sharma. An Inclusion Strategist with Newz Hook. Yes, I am a person with disability. But that doesn’t define who I am. I am a youth, a woman and also the 1st Miss Disability of India 2013. I wanted to achieve something in life and I have been working for the last 9 years. I have recently completed my MBA in Human Resources because I want to grow. I am like every other young person in India. I want a good education, a good job and I want to help my family financially. So you can see I am like everyone else, yet people see me differently.

Here is the Ask Bhavna column for you where I would like to talk to you about the law, society and people’s attitudes and how we can build inclusion in India together.

So, if you have a question about any issue related to disability, bring them out and I can try to answer them? It could be a question relating to a policy or of a personal nature. Well, this is your space to find the answers!